Hampton City Council Work Session - August 13, 2025
Hampton City Council Work Session - August 13, 2025
The Hampton City Council held a work session on August 13, 2025, at 1:05 PM in Council Chambers, 22 Lincoln Street, Hampton, VA. Mayor Jimmy Gray, Vice Mayor Steven L. Brown, and all councilmembers were present. The meeting included presentations on Fort Monroe, accessory dwelling unit zoning amendments, a stakeholder group on camping on public property, the Office of Youth & Young Adult Opportunities annual report, and the Summer Youth Employment Program success coaches capstone. The meeting adjourned at 3:55 PM, after which the council convened a closed session for real estate and appointments.
Fort Monroe Update
- Scott Martin, new Executive Director of the Fort Monroe Authority, presented a landscape action plan to update the master plan. He highlighted Fort Monroe's unique features, revenue sources (earned revenue, philanthropy, partnerships, Commonwealth of Virginia), and a four-part approach including design as civic engagement. The draft Landscape Action Plan is expected to return to Council and the Governor in July 2026. Marketing efforts and a timeline were summarized. Council had no questions. City Manager Mary Bunting announced that Mitchell Silver will assist with planning for both Fort Monroe and the city at large.
Office of Youth & Young Adult Opportunities Annual Report
- Director Latiesha Handie presented the FY2025 annual report. Key points:
- The main problem identified is disproportionate rates of gun violence in pockets of the community among a limited group of actors and their associates.
- The department uses a deterrence model focusing on individuals most likely to create or commit crime.
- Statistics: Summer Youth Employment Program grew from 83 participants in 2022 to 147 in 2025 across 58 host sites. The Hopeful Hampton Divergent Program had 27 participants (with an additional pilot participant, total 28) with a 70.4% success rate (19 successful, 8 re-offended). A vulnerability list of 169 individuals was started; 77 have been removed (incarcerated, deceased, or completed program without incident), leaving 92 active. Fatal and non-fatal shootings: 2023 peak at 66 incidents (22 fatal, 44 non-fatal); 2025 tracking below that.
- Programs include family services, public health awareness (e.g., Hope After Dark, Hampton Hope Fest), stabilization (relocation of 6 families, 3 young adults), and community engagement via outside agencies (violence interrupters, credible messengers).
- Funding: $1.17 million budget in FY2025, with sources including General Fund, civic and community support, mini grants, federal and state grants. Cost of the Divergent Program: ~$77,985 for two cohorts, but can be as low as $34,000 depending on cohort size.
- Shoreline Operations Station (S.O.S.) at Buckroe Beach: temporary tent in summer 2024, now permanent structure open 7 days a week, 12 PM-8 PM. Since inception, zero incidents of crime at the beach.
- Council members commended the work. Vice Mayor Brown asked about outside agencies' case management consistency; Director Handie explained training and auditing. Councilwoman Ferebee asked about challenges; Handie cited staff burnout, grant funding limits, and inability to save everyone. Mayor Gray requested success stories; Handie noted a 28-minute video and introduced two young program graduates now employed through SYEP.
Briefing on Proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendments for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
- Community Engagement Manager Monica Meharg and Interim Director of Community Development Kim Mikel presented. The city proposes to amend the zoning ordinance to permit ADUs on single-family residential lots, with a phased approach (more restrictive initially, similar to short-term rentals). Key recommendations:
- One ADU per lot, no minimum lot size, setbacks per current standards for principal/accessory structures.
- Maximum size: 50% of principal structure or 800 sq ft, whichever is less.
- Height: 16 feet max, but not taller than principal structure; flood zone ADUs measured from design flood elevation.
- Prohibit short-term rentals in ADUs.
- Owner occupancy required (similar to Newport News or Norfolk models).
- Require a zoning administrator permit for tracking and enforcement.
- Non-conforming structures (e.g., existing garages) may be converted under certain conditions.
- Community engagement: 363 survey respondents; 48% considering adding an ADU, 43% for family support. Steering group included neighborhood reps, investors, builders, and end users.
- Next steps: Neighborhood Commission and Mayor's Committee for People with Disabilities feedback, Planning Commission public hearing on October 16, Council on November 12. Information at hampton.gov/adus.
Update on Stakeholder Group to Discuss Proposed Ordinance on Camping and Storage on Public Property
- City Manager Bunting explained that a proposed ordinance to allow police to ask people camping on city rights-of-way to leave (with potential fines) was misconstrued as criminalizing homelessness. Council deferred and created a stakeholder group. The group is now ready to proceed; the city requests a 60-90 day schedule adjustment.
- I-Team Civic Designer Demetrious Keilu presented a civic design approach for the stakeholder group, including a half-day co-design session with four groups: people with lived experience of homelessness, service providers, concerned residents, and government officials. Activities:
Meeting Transcript
And welcome to the Hampton City Council afternoon work session. I'm going to ask the clerk to call the road, please. Councilman Bowman. Present. Vice Mayor Brown. Here. Councilwoman Campbell, present. Councilwoman Faraby. Present. Councilwoman Harper. Present. Councilwoman Muggler. Present. Mayor Gray. Present. And we have a pretty full agenda this afternoon with presentations, and so I'm going to get right to them by asking the city managers to introduce the first one. Yes, we're so excited to have with us today our new executive director of the Fort Monroe Authority, Scott Martin, so that the council can formally meet him at our chambers. I know many of you met with him individually. And we also want to make sure our larger community meets him. We're so blessed to have him join the Fort Monroe Authority as the executive director. He brings a lot of expertise to Hampton and his prior work. He most recently was in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Chattanooga became the first city to become a national park city in America. The others were, I think Sydney, Australia, if I'm not mistaken, and I'm forgetting the one London. London. So he he uh clearly has a respect for the natural resources and the role in placemaking and also history and and the role that they can history brings to a community, and is the ideal director for Fort Monroe Authority at its place and time. And the Fort Monroe Authority is getting ready to embark on an exciting initiative to update its master plan and landscape management efforts. And Mr. Martin wanted to share that with you and also just share where we are with the Fort and its planning efforts. And so we're glad to have Mr. Martin with us today. He just recently got back from vacation, and this is his first stop. So thank you for being with us today. Glad to be here. Pardon the jet lag, yeah, it was late last night, but let's see what the heck I say today. Uh thank you for the generous uh introduction. I'll skip that and jump right into Fort Monroe's site. Many of y'all know well. Um, and just hitting the highlights as a refresher. It is a jointly managed site between the Commonwealth of Virginia, of course, and the U.S. National Park Service, both with core missions to deliver there, and you see both the mission and requirements that we have in front of you. Um, a couple things. We number one, despite all of that, it's really all about partnerships and collaborations. And the good news is that Fort Monroe does not stand alone. We are in a neighborhood of projects across the country that you see on the screen that have similar governance structures set up. And you see some big ones up there. Um, you see Jekyll Island, um, you see Bryant Park, you see the Presidio. So we are in the right room when it comes to doing region shaping infrastructure projects on the cutting edge right now. We have about a half a million visits per year. It's a national historic landmark.
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